TIME/LOCATION: MWF, 10:00-10:50 a.m., 130 Holden Hall, Texas Tech University

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. David L. Snead

OFFICE/OFFICE HOURS: 49 Holden Hall

                                                Office Phone: 742-1004 (ext. 240)

                                                Email: david.snead@ttu.edu and/or davidlorisnead@cleanweb.net

COURSE OBJECTIVES: To obtain a better understanding of the events, people, and ideas that helped shape the development of the United States through the period of Reconstruction. More specifically, the goals of this course include:

1) To discover the importance of studying history. What purpose does the study of history serve? Will you need to remember anything from this class? You should discover your own answers to these questions throughout the semester.

2) To develop a sufficient background in history to formulate effective arguments. Whether you are pursuing a career in history or not, you will need to make convincing arguments based on the presentation of facts. The study of history prepares you for much more than just a career in history.

3) To gain an appreciation for the influence of the period under study in this course on the events of today. How did Christopher Columbus’ 1492 discovery transform cultures in Europe, Africa, and the New World? How has the Constitution influenced the development of the United States? Why, after well over a century, do the Civil War and Reconstruction still divide the nation in many ways? You will find answers to these questions and more in this class.

COURSE MATERIALS:

1) Text - Tindall, George Brown, and David E. Shi, America: A Narrative History, Vol. 1, 5th ed. (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1999).

2) Supplementary Reading

a) Buel, Joy Day, and Richard Buel, Jr., The Way of Duty: A Woman and Her Family in Revolutionary America (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1984).

b) Blassingame, John W., The Slave Community: Plantation Life in The Antebellum South (New York: Oxford University Press, 1979).

COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Members of this class will be responsible for all material addressed in this course, including lectures, readings, discussions, and films. The final course grade will be based on the following:

1) Two tests - the tests will be worth 30% of your final grade.

Test 1 will cover chapters 1 through 5 in the text and any material covered in class.

Test 2 will cover chapters 6 through 9 and parts of chapter 10 in the text and any material covered in class.

2) 9 quizzes - 10 quizzes will be given based primarily on your readings from the text. Your lowest quiz grade will be dropped. There will be no make-ups, except for extreme circumstances (A missed quiz will be recorded as a zero). The quizzes will be worth 15% of your final grade.

3) Two short essays - each student will be required to write two 3 to 6 page papers that focus on the supplementary readings. The first essay will be worth 15%, and the second one will be worth 20% of your final grade.

4) A final exam - the final exam will be cumulative in the sense that the study of history is based on what is already known. However, emphasis will be given to the material covered since the last test, including parts of chapter 10 and chapters 11 through 18 in the text. The exam will be worth 20% of your final grade.

Grade Schedule: A (92-100), A- (90-91), B+ (88-89), B (82-87), B- (80-81), C+ (78-79), C (72-77),

C- (70-71), D+ (68-69), D (62-67), D- (60-61), F (0-59).

ATTENDANCE POLICY: Regular attendance is expected. Every absence, whether excused or unexcused, will be recorded. Any student missing between two and three weeks of classes (i.e. seven to nine class sessions) will have his/her final average automatically lowered one full letter grade. If a student misses more than three weeks of classes (i.e. ten or more class), he/she will automatically fail. A student arriving late or leaving early is subject to being counted absent.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: I will make every reasonable accommodation to assist students with disabilities. It is the responsibility of the student to let me know of the disability and to help develop the best program for accommodating his/her needs.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:

8/30 - Introduction                                                                                                             Read Ch. 1

9/1 - Motives for Exploration                                                                                            Read Ch. 2

9/3 - Exploration and its Consequences

9/6 - No Class (Labor Day)

9/8 - Shift to Colonization                                                                                                Read Ch. 3

9/10 - The Chesapeake Colonies

9/13 - Puritan N.E. and the Quakers

9/15 - Slavery in the New World                                                                                     Read Ch. 4

9/17 - Colonial Development in the 1700s

9/20 - Religion and the Great Awakening

9/22 - England’s Imperial System                                                                                 Read Ch. 5

9/24 - " " "

9/27 - Development of a Crisis Atmosphere

9/29 - Test #1                                                                                                                 Read Ch. 6

10/1 - The Continental Congresses and the Declaration of Independence

10/4 - Government during the American Revolution                                                 Read Ch. 7

10/6 - Military Campaigns during the Revolution

10/8 - Aftermath of the Revolution

10/11 - Problems Faced by the New Nation                                                             Read Ch. 8

10/13 - Constitutional Convention

10/15 - Constitution and the Bill of Rights

10/18 - Presidency of George Washington

10/20 - Presidencies of Washington and John Adams                                         Read Ch. 9

10/22 - Thomas Jefferson                                                                                         Read p. 414-20 and 428-31

10/25 - U.S. Becomes a World Power

10/27 - Test #2                                                                                                           Read p. 410-414, 420-28, and 431-41

10/29 - Early Manufacturing                                                                                    Read Ch. 12

11/1 - Industrial Revolution                                                                                     Read Ch. 11

11/3 - Politics and Foreign Policy in the 1820s

11/5 - Andrew Jackson                                                                                             Read Ch. 14

11/8 - Westward Expansion                                                                                     Read Ch. 13

11/10 - Reform Movements

11/12 -     "                 "                                                                                                 Read Ch. 15

11/15 - Slavery

11/17 -     "                                                                                                                 Read Ch. 16

11/19 - Road to War

11/22 - Road to War

11/24-11/28 - No Class (Thanksgiving Holiday)

11/29 - Civil War                                                                                                     Read Ch. 17

12/1 -      "     "

12/3 -     "      "                                                                                                        Read Ch. 18

12/6 - Reconstruction

12/8 - "

12/10 (Friday) - Final Exam (7:30-10:00 a.m.